serious political game about spending cuts and deficits. less than two hours, the house will vote on a sandy relief bill that could deliver $51 billion in aid. but earlier today house republicans tried and failed to pass an amendment to the sandy relief bill that would give the money only if it were offset with spending cuts. they were saying no relief aid unless programs are cut back. 157 republicans voted for these offsets. they supported the amendment which would have killed the $50 million sandy relief package. how on earth did we get here? this is money sitting in washington to help our fellow americans get their lives back together. how can we explain the efforts to not help people? joining me now, congressman mick melvani. congressman, first of all, thanks for being here again. >> it's always a pleasure. thanks very much for having me. >> now, how can you talk about spending when americans are so desperate for help, congressman? >> well, it's pretty simple. because in your introduction you said the money was just sitting here in washington. and it's not. it's actually sitti

is with us, no bigger advocate of getting america's debt and deficit under control, but does he think the debt ceiling is the leverage that republicans should use to get that done? he'll join us exclusively, and i know you're going to ask him about that. >> absolutely. >> let's check out the action on the street right here. here's how things are shaping up with less than an hour to go. the dow jones industrial average hitting basically at the highs of the day. had been down around 60 points earlier. talking about a gain of 20 points on the blue chip average. fractional move at 13,527. nasdaq chart pattern looks similar. take a look though it's negative. down about nine points on the nasdaq, a quarter points lower and the s&p 500 looks like this. similar chart pattern as the dow up a fraction on the standard & poor's but still that's the high of the afternoon. let's get more on the markets in today's "closing bell" exchange by hank smith and steve from comcast funds and our own rick santelli. >> hello. >> good to see you guys. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> hank smith, we have

'93 and we were talking about an omnibus spending bill. it was a deficit reduction bill but of course it was called the tax increase. and there were things in the bill that i liked and there were things in the bill i didn't like. i didn't think it went far enough with regard to deficit reduction. i didn't think it went far enough with regard to entitlements. so i was a no vote, and i walked into the house that night and the republicans were high-fiving saying they don't have the votes and the democrats were figuring out how they could switch their votes and i said wait a minute, we came in with this president in '92, it was the largest class of women, there were 21 new women, 24 democrats. and the president was on the phone, and he said what would it take? and i said a serious discussion about entitlements, further cuts, and i'll only be your last vote because there had only been two -- in the house as you know, a tie vote goes down. >> sure. >> so i said i'd only be your 218th vote and there had been two votes i knew like this in history. one for the impeachment of andrew johnson and

on the table. congresswoman jan schawowsky and the deficit reduction act. the bill would offer the choice of the publically run health insurance plan. and get this, it would save a hundred billion dollars over the next ten years. this bill is a win for everybody. it will reduce the deficit. obama care has brought the number of uninsured americans to the lowest level since 2008. however, the law would be fully implemented until 2014. it would put pressure on all insurers to lower their premiums in order to compete. it would also provide immediate relief to small businesses and the federal government and all parts of the economy. for example, former defense secretary robert gates has warned the rising -- he has warned of rising military health care costs for years. >> sharply rising health care costs are consuming an ever-larger share of this department. growing from 19 billion in 2001. >> military health care costs have gone up 300% in the past decade. 2012 was the first year since 1995 military personnel saw an increase in health care premiums. now, there are two things republicans

studily declining structure budget deficit, and high and rising public debt. what fitch is not saying, but almost screaming is, the washington sons of fitches are doing not about it, they screamed it. after the cliff, get ready for the crash. i'm not surprised we could still be cut. i'm surprised that fitch has not already done so, john campbell said that triple a rated countries do not we behave this way. i'm surprised it has not already happened. what do you think? >> i know, i just, you know there isal this talk if we get into a big fight over trying to reduce entitlements and making a long-term solution to this, that fitch or some rating agencies may cut our credit rating at this point. if that is what they are doing, they have it backwards. what they should do is they should look at reducing our credit rating, if we don't -- if we don't make some significant change in long temp problem, otherwise we'll surpass italy, and greece and spain and japan. that is what hey should be talking about. not just about this fight we're going to have over the fiscal cliff. of this going t

have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. to continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals. you and i, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we're not bound by that same limitation? we must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. and let there be no misunderstanding -- we are going to begin to act, beginning today. the economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. they will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. they will go away because we as americans have the capacity now, as we've had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom. in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem. from time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by se

silver bullet in deficit reduction is economic growth. we need to get out of this circle we're in right now and start talking about growth. how we start moving the economy forward because we'll never get out of the hole otherwise. melissa: stephen, that is a great point. do you move the economy forward and grow by raising taxes, do you think. >> president obama at one point believed we do not. he argued in twine and 2010 you would hurt economic growth if you raised taxes at time the economy was struggling. that is what he argued at time. melissa: what do you think, steven. raising taxes grows the economy or -- >> no, it does not grow the economy. we have to be serious how much the president contributed to overall debt picture. $6 trillion since he came to office. nearly $20,000 per united states citizen has been added since president obama came into office. so just silly to argue he hasn't contributed. melissa: blame game gets us nowhere because everybody contributed to it. god it is a mess and we have to fix it. when you hear people like nancy pelosi saying the fiscal cliff was n

congress alone. our current deficit is the result of money congress has already borrowed. president obama explained to the american people today how republicans in congress are trying to avoid doing their actual jobs. >> these are bills that have already been racked up. and we need to pay them. so while i'm willing to compromise and find common ground over how to reduce our deficits, america cannot afford another debate with this congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they've already racked up. >> if the american people do not catch on to the severity of all of this, of defaulting on our debts, the country will be in a dire situation. president obama knows this. he believes it. he has proved it before. and he is not going to play games with economic stability. >> so we've got to pay our bills. and republicans in congress have two choices here. they can act responsibly and pay america's bills, or they can act irresponsibly and put america through another economic crisis. but they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the american economy. the financi

spending, which is the main driver of our deficits, we can arrive at a package that gets this thing done. i'm happy to have that conversation. what i will not do is to have that negotiation with a gun at the head of the american people. the threat that unless we get our way, unless you gut medicare or medicaid, or, you know, otherwise slash things that the american people don't believe should be slashed, that we're going to threaten to wreck the entire economy. that is not how, historically, this has been done. that's not how we're going to do it this time. [ inaudible question ] chuck, what i'm saying to you is that there is no simpler solution, no ready, credible solution other than congress either give me the authority to raise the debt ceiling or exercise the responsibility that they have kept for themselves and raise the debt ceiling. because this is about paying your bills. everybody here understands this. i mean, this is not a complicated concept. you don't go out to dinner and then, you know, eat all you want, and then leave without paying the check. and if you do, you're br

problems or americans in this country, you know, chief among them the economy, the budget deficit for crying out loud. a dysfunctional government. in have to go to -- 4%. what in the world is going on in that town? >> not the first time there were talking about things that the rest of the country does not care about as much. interesting. this poll comes out with 71 percent of americans believing these new laws are unlikely to actually prevent future mass shootings, and then there was a washington post-abc poll earlier this week that found 55 percent of americans believe that the most effective way or one of the most effective ways to stop these things is to have armed guards and schools. much more in line with what the nra was proposing. people are skeptical of new laws, and i think they're right to be. if there are going to be new measures undertaken, they want to do things that are not what the white house is proposing right now. lou: there is a dishonesty in this initiative that i find appalling. this president reacted skeptically to the proposal by the nra to put armed guards at s

unemployment and minimal hope for its improvement, and also for increases in the debt and deficit. his job legislation proposals are not being well received by republicans. the administration has not proposed any innovative resolution for the severe downturn in housing. and some believe he should have supported and promoted simpson-bowles deficit reduction proposal. he has not been able to significantly expand economic opportunity. how has obama used the tools of leadership? he attempts to communicate his vision and proposals, but he has appeared so often on television that exposure -- overexposure was agree. he's a capable public speaker, but his speech is usually lack the spirit he showed during his first campaign. he seems to lack the dramatic comedic asian skills of fdr, reagan or clinton. obama frequently comes across as a teacher, or as a motivator, not a motivator. he fails then too, frequently to excite and motivate. although he currently isn't doing bad and the current campaign. there's a reason article in a sunday edition of "the new york times" entitled obama plays to win in pol

presidential campaign when they should have been showing it off. if they're so into cutting the deficit and they think spend issing the problem, show it off. let's see what you got. they don't want to do it. >> what i don't understand about this is why if you believe that ultimately they're going to have to cave, why don't we just let them cave? why do we need to create all of these other sort of -- as i said wack-a-do arrangements so this can happen? >> it's all leverage, right? if the sequester, that deal is not great for the republicans or that battle is not great for them because that disproportionately hurts republican industries, which is to say the defense industry, which is not to say that there aren't plenty of democrats whose bread is not being buttered by defense contractors, but if you look down at the breakdown of sequester cuts, defense gets hit with $55 billion in cuts, but they are much more severe, and as dave wood from the huffington post has said, it's like taking a meat clever to the defense industry. the nondefense cuts, 55 billion, same amount, but social security, ret

, actually, the public option would decrease the deficit by about $104 billion over ten years. >> how too you know that? >> that's the congressional budget office estimate. of what it would do. this is not numbers i made up. because it would inn fact lower the -- provide an option -- this would be completely by choice -- for people who don't want to pick this public option, among the private sector choices within a health exchange, and rates for premiums are estimated to be about 5 to 7% lower, meaning those people in the exchange that needed a subsidy would take fewer tax dollars and it is also estimated that it would serve as an anchor, because there's competition, to bring down the cost of health care, even in the private sector as well. >> when is the government -- when is the government ever done that? with george bush's plan, you were critical and had a right to be for prescription drug benefit. the argument ises that it would drive down the cost of those drugs. if anything they have soared since that benefit came in because the government cannot act as a source of even buying i

america? i think moral and religious deficit in this country plays a big role in these atrocities and in our cultural decline in general. we've got to face that fact. two prominent members of the clergy will face it. and the best path to prosperity is free markets, moral responsibility. i'm larry kudlow. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] ok, here's the way the system works. let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money. that's not much you think. except it's 2% every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch. over time it really adds up. then go to e-trade and find out how much our advice costs. spoiler alert: it's low. really? yes, really. e-trade offers investment advice and guidance from dedicated, professional financial consultants. it's guidance on your terms, not ours. that's how our system works. e-trade. less for us. more for you. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] over a third of a day's fiber. fiber one. >>> get this

called, then it has to face the economic tasked with value facing 20% and a huge fiscal deficit thanks to the patronage of the last year than you are going to start to see a lot of the chickens come home to roost and see it break apart. this is very similar after -- basically he was forced to engage in a austerity package around 1952 until 55 and that is what basically got him kicked out. and then of course after 1944 he died and you begin to see that internal battle, then you begin to see diffraction happening but not until -- >> that is a perfect segue because i want to bring it back to russell for the question. we talked about politics and about constitution, institutions. we talked about the economy although we've alluded to this aspect to it let me ask you to take off your journalist hat and put on your markets have and ask a simple question is venezuela going to buy, sell or hold? >> i think what we are going to see in the short term is a great deal of turmoil to reverse of markets -- capital flees some certainty. so, right now you have on uncertainty because nobody knows what's

the deficit. but the actual debt payment, are less than 90 cents on the dollar that we take in. so even if the president as he should should pays our debts, that leaves him with 90 cents on every dollar that comes in to fund the other priorities of government and he wants to threaten not to pay that debt service. i think that's irresponsible of the president to be suggesting default on the debt. we ought to be talking about a bipartisan solution to the spending problem that got us here in the first place. >> i have heard talk in the republican conference about a one or two or three month extension on the debt ceiling. and on a continuing resolution for the budget to run the government. is that one to three month solution not still on the table? >> well, larry, we're proposing a number of different solution, both short term and long term. frankly, president obama needs to start rolling up his sleeves and focusing on both instead of sitting over in the white house and kind of throwing out all the threats to everybody across the country and running around campaigning as if he's still

800 billion dollars in savings and debt payments from lower deficits, as a spending cut. that's a dubious claim. number three, obama is counting a nearly 1 trillion dollar savings from more money than nobody expected to be spent anyway, now that the war in iraq is over and the afghanistan war is winding down. so, obama's entire premise that we need a balanced approach to cutting the deficit is based on a huge fiction which is that obama's plan will cut 4 trillion during the the next decade. it will do no such thing. he's basing on a falsity, just like day one when he's been in office, distort and pr propgandize. now, republicans need to understand all of this dealing with obama. they're dealing with a man who is reckless, ruthless as any president they will ever encounter and my next guest says he has a plan that mr. bolster the republicans hand when it comes to dealing with the democrats on the issue of debt and much more. ohio senator rob portman is here. and what do you make of obama, only 2006 a vote against the debt ceiling. >> it went further than that. he said it would be u

calls a credible medium term deficit reduction plan. understand that fitch is not just looking for an 11th hour debt ceiling deal that sets the table for another mini crisis down the road. the federal government hit the debt limit as you know on december 31st. the treasury is using so-called extraordinary measures to pay its bills through mid-february or early march. now, fitch predicts washington will extend the debt ceiling despite the current war of words between president obama and republicans in congress. what happens if we get downgraded? it happened before. remember 2011, when standard & poor's did it. that hit markets and the wider economy hard, but it didn't cause interest rates to increase. this time could be different, however, because the rest of the world is getting its act together. even successful businesses like ford are worried. here's what ceo alan mulally told me today. >> i think the most important thing to your point is that we come together around a solution that allows us to live within our means, to reduce our budget deficits, and also to deal with our trade

deficit reduction plan." you will recall that standard & poor's did downgrade the u.s. debt last august after the debt ceiling was raised amidst 11th hour suspense. it was blamed on bringmanship to use the debt creeling to get spending cuts. s&p did cite the melodrama as part of the reason but placed emphasis on the view that the debt ceiling deal fall short in what our view would be necessary to stabilize the government median term debt dynamics. translation, the debt ceiling deal didn't do enough about the debt itself. so keep this in mind when you hear it said,be with great certainty it's the republicans trying to force spending cuts over endangering the nation credit rating. as will rogers quoted once, "it isn'tbe what we don't know that gives us trouble. it's what we know that ain't so." bret? >> bret: the president has effectively turned the messaging around. by saying it's about paying the bills that congress has already passed. the laws that it's already passed. republicans are saying it's about borrowing authority. essentially running up the country's credit card. >> exactly. w

. he is a deficit hawk. more important than that he is a thoughtful and conscious -- voice of a conscious for the senate throughout his term on fiscal responsibility. we worked together in a very effective way to try to bring some sort of bipartisan effort into the requirement that we do something about the debt. it was really, as was mentioned, an idea that we came up with on a long plane ride i think to central america to put together a commission that then threw into the simpson bowls proposal that has become the defining memo for the effort to try to get that is under control. bob zoellick is fond of quoting a friend of his, the foreign minister of australia. we met a few months ago who said to him the united states is one debt deal away from leading the world out of fiscal chaos and disruption. we are. we truly are. we are a nation on the brink of massive economic expansion. from the place that can't is from, north dakota, you see the change in the paradigm on energy. we will go from an important country to exporting. our cost of energy for as far as i can see will be the l

going up. >> it's bigger and bigger, and the deficit doesn't seem to be getting really teenie tiny either, does it stuart? >> no, just not. 3 1/2 billion extra every single day. >> i know, amazing. stuart: tell me how it actually affects our economic growth rate. how does it it do this? >> well, now, with low, low, low, low, interest rates, it doesn't increase the use of tax receipts it pay interest on the debt. but as interest rates rise, which they will, it will have an enormously deleterious effect on growth rates. it really will and that's what we're worried about, the long run prospects of what this national debt and thereby tax receipts use today pay interest wi will do. >> i have a new report from congress, climate change is here, watch out, it's affecting us, because we humans, all our economic activity. the report was written by 240 business leaders and scientists found that climate change is having an impact on infrastructure, water supplies, crops, shore lines. art,this surely is a buildup, softening us up to the point where we will accept a carbon tax, is that right? >>

government the ability to pay its existing bills. it doesn't create new deficits, it doesn't create new spending. so not raising the debt ceiling is sort of like a family which is trying to improve its credit rating saying, i know how we can save money, we won't pay our credit card bills. not the most effective way to improve your credit rating. >> the metaphors, jim, whether it's a family not paying the credit card bills, the president saying it's like dining and dashing at a restaurant, the only thing is we've got two weeks of respite and then we're off to the races again. >> after the civil war, there was tremendous partisanship in this country. a tumultuous time. the level of bipartisanship. there's such hatred that you can't get in a room. it never seems like obama gets in the room. biden got in the room beforehand. but look, everybody hates each other down there. it's exactly the opposite of what you would expect from a respected nation. it makes us look mickey mouse. i don't blame fitch. look, we have to pay bills, the constitution says it, but everybody doesn't seem to care much

here that can set our country on a path that will allow us to get our debt to g.d.p., our deficit to g.d.p. down around 3%, which is the basis of all economists left, right and septemberer all agree on the areas we can begin to grow as a country. and as my grandfather used to say with grace of god and goodwill of the neighbors, cooler heads will prevail now between now and the time we deal with the debt ceiling and we may meet the goal which we set out to do, which is to have roughly a $4 trillion cut over 10 years in the long-term deficit and to put us on that path. but i didn't come here to talk about any of those important subjects today, because as important as they allr today we have a more urgent and immediate call and that is how to deal with the epidemic of gun violence in america. you all know the statistics better than anyone so i'm not going to repeat them. on that score, i owe an incredible debt of gratitude to you at the head table and those of you in the room. i know we don't have you nan hit in this ballroom nor do we in any ballroom, but we all acknowledge that we hav

deficit and huge fiction which in a plan will cut $4 trilin in the next decade, it will do no such thing. he is basing his argument on a falsehood which is what he's done is lie, distort. and what this showed us is that obama in the second term is going to be worse than obama in the first term. what we saw in one hour was the worst of our president on display. and republicans, they need to understand all of this dealing with obama. a man reckless, ruthless, and any president they will ever encounter. my next guess says he has a plan that will bolster the republicans plan. ohio senator is with us, how are you? >> great. >> sean: first, what do you make obama? only 2006 vote against the debt ceiling. now? >> he said would it be unpatriotic to vote to. >> sean: that is another thing. very that clip. do you want to see it? >> sure, it will be fun. >> sean: let's show the videotape. >> the problem is the way bush has done it over eight years is to take out a credit card from bank of china in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 preside

care and the size of our deficit. but we reject the belief that america must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. (cheers and applause) >> pelley: we people, the first three words of the pre-amble of the constitution, the president repeated it again and again throughout the speech, a speech about national unity and unity of person. norah o'donnell and john dickerson are down there on the national mall. they've been watching these events unfold all day. john, the president has quite a task ahead of im. how does he proceed politically? >> well, he proceeds the next big moment is the state of the union and that's where he will get even more detailed. as bob mentioned, this did have a state of the union like feel to it as he ticked off those agenda items. but he'll get more specific about agenda items, he'll put pressure on congress and the big thing, though, is while we think about his agenda for the future, he's still dealing with the business of the past and one of the things the president has to

change. cutting the deficit. and oh, yeah, lowering unemployment. make no mistake about it. it's ambitious. but the president is entering his second term with a job approval among the highest since the early months of his presidency. his favorability rating has jumped nine point ins the last three months. at the very same time, the other side is fractured. destroying themselves. they're even threatening impeachment over the issue. we want all tools available to use including impeachment. >> could that build up to make a case for possible impeachment. >> all options should be on the table, undoubtly. >> and if that weren't enough, they're back. that's right, the birther brigade is stronger than ever. 64% of americans think president obama is hiding important information about his early life. 64%. no wonder the gop is going off the deep end. and no wonder the president is looking better than ever joining me now, jonathan kapart. thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> 64% is questioned about the president's early life. how do you explain that? well, look. 64% questioning the pres

the deficit and also have a vision and the stability in what is going to happen in terms of the voting of economic growth. estimate what the peak to the cut a piece of that. the spending on health not necessarily the biggest cost of the deficit right now but if you look at 20 years, for 30 years it is the alligator that is going to swallow everything. i was on a panel last week and there was a lively argument around should we raise the age for medicare, should we try to change the system and have a fee for service, has the obama administration done a lot to lower the cost of health care going forward so we don't need to do much more? what do you think is in practical terms what needs to be done on health care if you poll people they say we all want to cut medicare celerity want to go dealing with that piece of the puzzle? >> that reminds me when i was in graduate school i went to study foreign policy and was right around the time they balanced the budget and i thought my gosh what am i going to do? so i realized the long-term problems were still there and i had to make a choice

from spending on health care and revenues from closing loopholes, we consult the deficit issue without sacrificing our investments in things like education that are going to help us grow. it turns out the american people agree with me. they listened to an entire year's debate over this issue, and they made a clear decision about the approach they prefer. they do not think it is fair to ask a senior to pay more for his or her health care or a scientist to shut down like that saving research so that a multi millionaire investor can take less in tax rates then a second trip -- and a secretary. they do not think it is smart to protect and as corporate loopholes and tax breaks for the wealthiest americans rather than rebuild roads and schools or help manufacturers bring jobs back to america. they want us to get our books in order in a balanced way where everyone pulls their weight, everyone does their part. that is what i want as well. that is what i have proposed. we can get it done, but we're going to have to make sure people are looking at this irresponsible way, rather than just through

our deficits in a balanced and responsible way. and for nearly two years now, i've been fighting for such a plan. one that would reduce our deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. which would stabilize our debt, and our deficit in a sustainable way for the next decade. that would be enough not only to stop the growth of our debt relative to the size of our economy, but it would make it manageable. so it doesn't crowd out the investments we need to make in people and education and job training and science and medical research, all the things that help us grow. step by step, we've made progress towards that goal. over the past two years i've signed into law about $1.4 trillion in spending cuts. two weeks ago i signed into law more than $600 billion in new revenue. by making sure the wealthiest americans begin to pay their fair share. when you add the money that we'll save in interest payments on the debt, all together that adds up to a total of about $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the past two years. not counting the $400 billion already saved from winding down the wars

the deficit is over a trillion dollars . every man, woman and child. i had my fifth grandchild and that baby was born with $50,000 worth of debt if we were to pay it off today. every man and woman and child has that worth of debt. that is uncon69able and we have to stop kicking the can down the road and we have to solve the problem and do whatever it takes to get us back on the fiscal path again. >> i want to talk about it now you come back and see a different thing. what is the biggest difference you are seeing coming back the second time? >> we passed a lot more rules on ourselves. we reduced our budget and exact opposite is happening to our government. it is gone crazy with regulation and restriction, but the part that is most alarmming is the amount of money that we are print one day will explode. we can't continue to print money. we have fancy names for it. it is quantitative easing and it is really printing money. wrim bay way has a trillion dollar note and you buy a loaf of bread everybody is happily singing . we will pick up the bill for the health care. new taxes kicked n

this country. there's vast support out there for balanced deficit reduction, investments in education and manufacturing, immigration reform, gun safety. so on the issues the president intends to really push and focus on, there's massive support in the country, even among republicans. let's not lose sight of that, and that's why we're going to do a better job in the second term-- while we're going to do all we can to work with congress and negotiate, to also make sure the american people are connected to what's going on here. i think to really get the kind of change here in washington the american people are going to demand it. but there is really, i think, consensus around eye lot of the issues around the country >> what about the idea the republicans have said they will go along with the three-month extension on the debt ceiling, increase? are you going to be-- does that help? >> well, it's helpful that they have now dropped their demand, that the only way they're going to pay the country's billes, they themselves racked up, would be to extract some concessions. we've got to never ag

lot more in the state of the union about deficit control. we have this new fox poll out tonight to. people are upset about fiscal cliff deal. when asked if their paycheck is smaller this year because of more taxfuls being taken out 60% say yes 25% say no. he is going to have to talk about more deficit reduction. they will do a will little partying this weekend they real lives it's right back to work, bill. >> word of a solution to prevent the united states from defaultingen its debt. the house majority leader eric cantor saying that lawmakers will vote next week on a short-term plan to let the government borrow more money effectively raising the debt ceiling. the deal not all worked out just yet. but apparently it this will not require the spending cuts that house republicans had wanted. just released fox news poll finds that 69% favor raising the debt limit only if there are major spending cuts involved. and 23% say it's reckless not to raise it regardless. the poll also shows more than 8 in 10 think government spending is out of control. only 11% believes it's being managed caref

, interest rates could spike, markets could go hay wooir. it could dip into the recession. deficit would go up. i mean, we're talking about a very punishing thing that will affect american people who had nothing to do with what they're trying to object to or deal with. >> you oo >> you're absolutely right. congress spent that money. they spent it. whether they liked it or not, they were the ones who spent it. but it's more important than that. it's what you point out. the stakes here are really high for the republican party. far be it from you to advise the republican party. but if i did, i would say stay away from shutting the government down. stay away from letting the debt ceiling not be raised because those are things that the american people will hate. they'll hate us defaulting onli blame you for it. they'll hate us shutting the government down. if you want to make a stand, make it in the sequester. the sequester has a lot of things that are painful to the democrats and the president. that's the place to plak the stand. and, look, everyone agrees, every rational person agrees with mic

the things the president has on his agenda, talking about jobs, dealing with the deficit, getting out of afghanistan. imgrapgs. not small goals. what are his chances of getting thinged accomplished? >> i think there's a path on immigration and that would probably be done soonler rather than later. i remember rahm emanuel saying never let a crisis go to waist waste. the republicans have a crisis in terms of attracting hispanic voters. so they need to deal with immigration reform. is prospects for that look very good. you look at the previous president, what tripped them up, you didn't mention lyndon johnson, but his presidency got devoured by the war in vietnam. he had a terrific legislative record. this president is very careful about getting this country involved in another international crisis, war. he's overly cautious and is getting us out of afghanistan, whether that's a good or bad idea. it's coming to an end. he's very much aware of history. i think we can check the box on the personal life. i have confidence he's not going to get in trouble in his personal life. i think the le

deficit, the treasury of the united states would have to go out and issue bonds in order to get cash to pay for it. and that was just a cumber some, awkward thing to do. what they did was create this debt cerealing which meant t ce could issue bonds for chunks of money not related to every single law that was passed. it was just because it was cumbersome. it is not a debt control or spending control measure. the president used an analogy today, used many, to say this is like eating at a restaurant, having your fill and not paying the bill. if you want to discuss -- >> dine and dash. >> yes, dine and dash. we have two problems. one is we have to understand the terms of this thing. this is about increasing the treasury's ability to pay for things that have already been committed to by the government. the danger is if you have this discussion about not paying it, those who lend you money seem to think you're not serious about this. imagine having this conversation with american express on the line. we weren't supposed to eat out that much last month. we're only going to pay amex 200 of the

to fix the deficit and whether or not it's going to work as he suggests. during sleep train's huge year end clearance sale, get beautyrest, posturepedic, even tempur-pedic mattress sets at low clearance prices. plus, get free same-day delivery, set-up, and removal of your old set. and through monday, get 3 years interest-free financing on selected models. but hurry, the special financing offer ends martin luther king, jr. day. don't miss the year end clearance sale at sleep train. superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> president obama struggling with the debt ceiling, that's always a fun comedy premise. wow. this will be good. debt premise. no, president obama told congress it must raise our debt limit because the u.s. is, quote, not a deadbeat nation. yeah. and the president added, by the way, if china calls, i'm not here. >> conan o'brien poking fun at the latest financial crisis. comedians, of course, joking about it. the country's debt, one of the big issues facing the president over the next four years. ali